Drug trafficking, receiving a bitter end with 30 million dong in hell money

Ha Thi Huyen (born in 1988, residing in Muong Noc commune, Que Phong) stood before the witness stand, sobbing. The court was deserted, none of Huyen's relatives were present. "The defendant's husband is serving a 3-year and 6-month sentence at Prison No. 6 - Ministry of Public Security, he is a drug addict and was arrested for "Illegal possession of narcotics". The defendant has no children," Huyen stated.

Having a husband who was addicted and then imprisoned for drugs, Huyen understands more than anyone the harmful effects of deadly addictive substances. Therefore, this female defendant cannot explain whether the reason for her crime was greed or gullibility to be lured into this crime.

Defendant Ha Thi Huyen. Photo: Nhu Binh

Her husband was in prison, she had no children to take care of, and no stable job to do, so Huyen applied to wash dishes at a restaurant in Kim Son town (Que Phong). There, she met a young man named Tung, who occasionally stopped by the restaurant to eat.

On the afternoon of May 25, Tung called Huyen. After a while of asking questions back and forth, this adult asked Huyen to help him buy 25 million VND worth of heroin. If he could buy it, he would pay an additional 5 million VND. 5 million VND was equivalent to 2 months of washing dishes until his skin was worn out! Huyen clicked her tongue and nodded.

On the morning of May 26, Tung urged her to pick up the goods so she could return to the South in the afternoon, so Huyen called a Mong man in Tri Le commune to order 25 million VND worth of heroin. Because she didn't have any money, Huyen asked the Mong man to let her pay on credit, and would pay later after selling the goods. Huyen brought the drugs to the store where she worked, hid them in a cupboard and asked Tung to come pick them up.

The two sides agreed to deliver the goods in the restaurant's restroom to avoid detection. After receiving the drugs, Tung gave Huyen a black plastic bag, saying that it was 30 million VND including the cost of the goods and Huyen's wages. Before Huyen could open the bag to check, the police rushed in and arrested her. The man named Tung threw away the drugs (weighing 76.24g) and ran away. The police opened the black bag Huyen was holding and saw it was full of hell money.

At the trial, Ha Thi Huyen confessed to all her crimes. Considering the case as a whole, the panel sentenced Ha Thi Huyen to 15 years in prison for “Illegal drug trafficking”.